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Rhinish Republic
The Rhineland, officially the Rhinish Republic, (German: Rheinische Republik) is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered in the North and the East by the German Democratic Republic, in the West by the kingdom of Benelux and in the South by the French Republic. Its territory covers roughly 9,000 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine http://www.nrw2000.de/vorzeit/vorzeit.htm Prehistory Palaeolithic During the Middle Palaeolithic, ca 100,000-30,000 BP (the dates vary a great deal) western Europe, including the Rhine, was occupied by Neanderthal Man, to which belonged the Mousterian culture of stone tools. In fact the Neanderthal man was even named after a place in the Rhinish Republic, the Neandertal valley near Düsseldorf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#Etymology_and_classification. Neanderthal sites are denser to the south, where open forest prevailed and the limestone terrain offered more caves as dwelling. The Rhine ran through an open tundra, where Neanderthals hunted big game, such as the rhinoceros and the woolly mammoth. Accordingly, open air Mousterian sites have been discovered in and around the Rhine valley. Mesolithic Before about 5600 BC, the Rhine Valley, along with most of Europe, was occupied by Cro-magnon man in the Mesolithic stage of cultural development; that is, they hunted and gathered, but owned a larger and more specialized tool kit than the Palaeolithic people, knew more about the plants and animals, and even may have kept a few animals. Iron Age During the early Iron Age, both banks of the Rhine were inhabited by Celtic tribes. However, in the beginning of the Pre-Roman Iron Age, ca 600 BC, the Proto-Germanic tribes crossed the Weser River and the Aller River, and expanded the whole distance to the banks of the Rhine. This expansion is shown archaeologically in the form of the Jastorf culture. From ca 500 BC and onwards, the lower Rhine and not the Weser and the Aller would increasingly mark the border between the Celtic tribes and the Germanic tribes. Roman Empire Though the Roman campaigns did not have the objective of installing permanent settlements along the Rhine at first, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest of autum 9 AD in the nowadays GDR, marked an important turning point in the Rhinish history. The loss of the approximate half of the Roman Rhinearmy and the resulting loss of military power, led the Roman Empire to persueing a new policy for securing its borders to Germania Magma, a policy of pacifying the Roman border provinces, among it Germania Inferior, in which the nowadays Rhinish Republic is found, though an extensive wave of settlements. Many of the cities of the modern Rhinish Republic, like Trier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trier, Koblenz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koblenz and the Rhinish capital Cologne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne were founded at this time. During the mid 4th century Roman military defeats and domestic turmoil led to increasing military confrontations with the Franks, a Germanic tribe, which eventually resulted in the destuction of Cologne and Bonn around 355 AD. Never the less did the Roman Empire succeed to stay in power for more than 100 years more. In 459 AD did the Roman reign in the nowadays Rhineland end. The Middle Ages 481–687: The Merovingians 687–751: Dominance of the mayors of the palace 751–843: Carolingian Empire 843-870: The Kingdom of Lotharingia 870-962: Francia Orientalis or the Kingdom of the East Franks After the death of Lothair II the Kingdom of Lotharingia became divided into three parts with the part of the nowadys Rhineland becoming a duchy of the Kingdom of the East Franks. With the election of Conrad I ended the Carolingian line in the Kingdom of the East Franks. His successor, Henry I the Fowler , a Saxon, achieved the acceptance of a separate Eastern Empire by the West Frankish (still ruled by the Carolingians) in 921, calling himself Rex Francorum Orientalum (King of the East Franks). He founded the Ottonian dynasty. 962-1806: The Holy Roman Empire Henry designated his son Otto, to be his successor. A marriage alliance with the widowed queen of Italy gave Otto control over that nation as well. His later crowning as Emperor Otto I (later called "the Great") in 962 would mark an important step, since from then on the Eastern-Frankish realm – and not the West-Frankish kingdom that was the other remainder of the Frankish kingdoms – would have the blessing of the Pope. This marks the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire. At this time the nowadays Rhineland was mainly at the territory of the duchy of Lorraine, which was divided in 959 into the duchies of Upper and Lower Lorraine, with the most North-Eastern part at the territory of the duchy of Saxony and the most South Eastern part in the duchy of Franconia. The waning influence of the Holy Roman emperors and the gain of might of the territorial lords in the 11th century led to the creation of numerous new territories. In the Rhineland we can for example prove the Archbishopric of Trier (Reichsfreiheit in 898, confirmed in 902, raised to electorate somewhen between 1189 and 1212), the electorate of Cologne (Bishop Bruno appointed as duke by his brother Emperor Otto I. 953), the County of Berg (first mentioned in 1101),the County of Jülich (raised to a county in 1142) and the Free Imperial City of Aix-la-Chapelle (Reichsfreiheit in 1306). Modern Times Around 1500-1618: The Dawning of the Modern Age At the beginning of the modern age, the Rhineland encompassed mainly the Duchy of Jülich-Kleve-Berg in its Northern parts, the Electorate of Cologne and the Free Imperial City of Cologne in the Central Part and several small territories, with the Electorate of Trier and the Free Imperial City of Aix-la-Chapelle as the most notable, in its Southern part. 1618-1648: Thirty Years' War 1815-1822: The Rhine comes under Prussian occupation After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 Prussia was rewarded for its role in the Napoleonic Wars with the defunct Grand Duchy of of Jülich-Berg, the former Electorate of Cologne, the Electorate of Trier, Manderscheid, Malmedy, the previously Free Imperial City of Aix-la-Chapelle, most of the Palatinate region, parts of Luxembourg and Limburg, as well as a few other small territories. The first two became, together with the already Prussian Duchy of Cleves, the County of Mark, parts of the Duchy of Gelre and the County of Moers, became the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and the later the Prussian Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine. ' 1822-1923: The Prussian Rhine Province' At 22nd of June 1822 the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and the Prussian Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine were unified to the Prussian Rhine Province. 1945 - today The German authorities began to crack down on all forms of resistance to the new Socialist regime across the country after the referendum of 1951 saw the Saarland and Trier reject unification with the rest of Germany. This began a series of attacks against the Catholic Church which was successful across the nation; with the exception of the devout Rhineland in which the government had also attempted to restrict public gatherings and festivities. These new decrees from Berlin proved too much for the Rhinelanders as slogans such as “even the Fascists didn’t ban fun”. The Allies soon took interest in this development, as Germany’s industrial heartland an independent Rhineland could truly be a damaging blow to the Soviets! In January 1957, Konrad Adenauer called a meeting in the regional capital of Koblenz and declared the Rhinish Republic which would be governed along democratic roots. This new country was immediately recognised as legitimate by Western European countries, and the German authorities were unwilling to pursue the Rhinelanders as they seemed to be a people who were not mouldable to “socialist ideals”. German forces withdrew and French troops took up the defence of the Rhineland, they still serve to protect the Rhineland today as the treaty of Rhinish Independence signed by the GDR and the EEC states that the Rhinish Republic may not have a military that is larger than 100,000 troops. Geography Government To be answered by the player. Proposed Parties: Zentrum (Christian Democrats, center-right, conservatives) SPD (Social-Democrats, center-left, NO Marxists) DDP (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, German Democratic Party, liberals) DVP (Deutsche Volkspartei: Nationalists, right-wing, NO nazies) Foreign Relations The Rhinish Republic has good relations to France and the UK and is allied with those powers. By being a strong Roman-Catholic nation it further has excellent relations with the Papal States and other pious Catholic nations. Its relations to the Communist nations, exspecially the GDR are icy at best. National Anthem The hinish national anthem is the song "Die Wacht am Rhein (The watch at the Rhine)". Although the text is originally directed against French expansionist ambitions, it is now understood as a waning against the GDR. Military The Rhinish military is limited to 100,000 troops due to a treaty with the GDR and the EEC. Demographics Religion The Rhinelands are a traditional Roman-Catholic stronghold and the Roman-Catholic church still holds significant moral influence in the devout Rhinish Republic. Since the Roman-Catholic church has played a significant role in achieving Rhinish independence the church membership has even increased since then at the cost ofof the other faithes. 80 % Roman-Catholic, 15 % Protestant, 5 % other Economy Culture